"My family, Persian in decent, migrated to the U.S. in the early '70s from Spain, my birth country," explains local filmmaker Youssef Delara. "Spanish was a common language in my house and as a result, I was very connected with the Latino community growing up in Los Angeles."

So when he set out to create his first feature film, "ESL," Delara knew that he wanted to target the Latino experience. "There weren't many provocative films that dealt with issues they face in polyglot L.A.," he explains. "I fell in love with a film in the '90s called 'Italian for Beginners' for its heartfelt drama and succinct storytelling encased in a classroom. I knew at that point I would create my cast of characters around an ESL class; a group of immigrants sharing a desire and need to learn English in order to survive and flourish in this country."

The resulting film, which stars several well-known Latino actors, such as veteran Maria Conchita Alonso, is sure to resonate with locals, but the themes have much wider appeal as well. "The characters' plights as immigrants who push themselves to the extreme of their own personal morality to make a living, is a universal experience," Delara says. "When we've shown at festivals, it's commonplace for people from various nationalities to approach me and explain their deep connection with the movie. That's a great feeling, to be able to move people like that...it's the greatest reward for a filmmaker."

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to an exclusive screening of the flick and a cast Q&A moderated by Wilmer Valderrama this Thursday at Beverly Hills' Fine Arts Theatre, send us an email here.

"ESL" will be released on DVD February 12th, and airs on Showtime beginning in March.

- Caroline Stanley

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